A district court on Thursday awarded death penalty to five people including a woman for the premediated killing of her husband, Mominul Huq, in Khagrachari. 

Khagrachari District and Sessions Judge Md Alamgir Hasan passed the order in presence of four accused. 

The court also fined the convicts Tk 5,000 each. 

The death-row convicts are-- Rabeya Akhter, 35, wife of victim Mominul Huq, Saiful Islam, 24, son of Manik Mia from Ramgarh Chowdhurypara, Firoz, 28, son of late Abdul Malek, Abul Kalam, 22, son of Shah Alam from Renucchara area of Guimara upazila, and Abul Asad alias Mithu, 20, son of Abul Hossain.

Of them, Abul Asad alias Mithu is absconding. 

According to case statements, convict Rabeya Akhter had a long-lasting conjugal dispute with her expatriate husband over an extramarital affair that she was involved in. When her husband returned home from Saudi Arabia in 2015, the dispute escalated further. 

At one point, Rabeya made a plot with her two nephews- Saiful and Firoz- to murder Mominul. Later Firoz hired two other men- Abul Kalam and Abul Asad alias Mithu- for Tk 1 lakh to execute the killing.    

In the night of February 4 in 2016, the assailants hacked Mominul to death in Rabindrapara area under Guimara upazila as per planning. 

Later Guimara police recovered the body and filed a case against unknown accused. 

After concluding investigation, police filed the charge-sheet in court on September 5 that year. A total of 12 witnesses testified during the trial of the case.

State lawyer Advocate Bidhan Kanungo expressed satisfaction over the verdict saying: "The punishment will be an example for society."

However, defence lawyer Md Arif Uddin said an appeal will be filed with the High Court challenging the verdict.

BDST: 1655 HRS, DEC 03, 2020
AP